by Paula Mabbel
“Clyde? What's wrong? What time is it?”
Clyde shrugged and wiped sleep out of his eyes as he handed Chance the phone. “I think it's 4 a.m. She says she's your sister. Julie, I think?”
Chance's eyes opened wide as he grabbed the phone. “Julie? Is that really you?”
His sister's voice came in clear and happy from the inside, filling him with a relief he hadn't known since he'd gotten back and lost track of her.
“Chance! Oh, thank God! I've been calling all over trying to find you, and finally found a waitress in this diner outside St. Mary... Anyway, Chance, we can catch up later. But the military called me, and they've been trying to find you! They want you to re-up for another tour. They wouldn't give me details, obviously, but they want you to call in as soon as you can. Chance...you don't really have to go back again, do you?”
Chance tried not to drop the phone. Go back? How can I go back?
“Jesus, Jules. I don't know. I'll have to drive up to the base tomorrow and see what's what. Julie, why didn't you tell me about the house?”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before Julie answered.
“Chance…what are you talking about? What about the house?”
***
Clyde gave Chance the day off to figure everything out. He even gave him the keys to one of the ranch trucks to drive out to the base so he could get in touch with one of his commanders from his last operation. He had just put on his jacket and was about to walk out the door when he looked up and saw Mattie standing in the doorway, her normally steely reserve betrayed by fear. Chance's stomach dropped out from under him. He couldn't take much more today.
“Aw, hell. What is it, Mattie? You look like you've see a damn ghost.”
Mattie reached into her pocket, pulled out a stick and held it up. Chance's jaw dropped.
“What the...that's not...please tell me that's not...” he stumbled awkwardly.
“I took four different tests. They all said the same thing, Chance. I'm pregnant.”
Chance dropped the truck keys to the floor.
“Well, now your dad is gonna kill me for sure.”
Mattie stuck the test back in her pocket and laughed uncomfortably. “I think the bigger problem is that Dad said you are going into Helena to see about signing up for another tour? Is that true?”
Chance collapsed down on the bed. “Well, damn, Mattie. That was five minutes ago. A lot has changed since then. Can you give me another minute? Maybe a meteor will crash into the planet and I won't have to make a decision.”
Mattie crossed the room and plopped down on the bed next to Chance.
“Listen, we didn't plan this. I'm a big girl. If you need to go, go. I'll...we'll...be here when you get back. But, the damn inconvenient truth of it is I'm in love with you, you goofy bastard. So whatever you decide, I'll support you.”
Chance leaned over and kissed Mattie on the cheek, then reached over and let his hand rest softly on her belly.
“It all might be for nothing, because seriously, girl, your dad is going to kill me.”
***
“YOU'RE WHAT?”
Clyde's bellowing brought the housekeeper running to the living room from the kitchen, but Mattie shuffled her out of the room and shut the door behind her. Clyde's face was bright red, and his hands were gripping the fireplace mantel so hard his knuckles were turning white. Mattie walked up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders.
“Daddy, just calm down. Chance is a good man, and I love him. We didn't intend for things to play out this way, but so it is. If you want us to leave, we'll leave. And if he decides to re-enlist for a tour, well, I'll figure out a way to take care of us. All of us. But I don't think you want to lose the chance to know your grandbaby.”
Clyde took a deep breath and turned around. His eyes were still afire with rage, but he was trying to calm himself down.
“You're not going anywhere, Mathilda. You'll stay right here. But I'm telling you right now, Westley, if you voluntarily leave my daughter and her child behind to go play cowboy that that sandbox, you’d best not come back.”
Mattie opened her mouth to object, but she could see there was no arguing with Clyde right now. Chance just stood there, staring into the distance, trying to figure out what do. He didn't want to leave Mattie, or his baby. He didn't even want to leave the ranch, or Clyde, whom he had grown quite fond of. But he didn't know yet if going overseas was an option or a demand. And until he found out, there was no use arguing.
“Sir, if I don't have to leave, I have no intention of going anywhere. But the only way I will know what is going on is if I drive to Helena and find out for myself. So, before you throw my ass out with the garbage, please let me find out what they want for me. Because there is nothing I want more in this world than to be with, and do right by, your daughter. And my child.”
Clyde grumbled and turned back to the fireplace.
“Then you better get on the road, boy. It's a long drive to Helena.”
***
Mattie paced back and forth across the foyer of the ranch house, her feet practically wearing a path in the wood. It was almost midnight, and Chance still wasn't back. Clyde had gone to bed hours ago, his anger dulled by half a bottle of bourbon. Mattie was the only one still up, and she thought she might drive herself crazy waiting for the sound of tires on pavement outside.
At ten after midnight, she finally heard what she'd been waiting for. She rushed to the front door and threw it wide open, to find Chance smiling on the other side, his arms open wide, waiting for her.
“So, you want to spend the rest of your life with a bum like me?”
Mattie ran into his arms and held him as tight as she could, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“This life and the next. You're stuck with me forever, Chance Westley.”
Chance spun Mattie in a circle, and kissed her with all of his might, as the sparkling starlight of the Montana sky shone down on them from above...
*****
The End
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The Brooklyn Billionaire’s Jewels
Vanessa stepped out of the shower and into her plush, terry cloth slippers. She dipped her hand into a jar of coconut oil and then slathered it onto her still wet skin and through her hair. She then wrapped herself in Egyptian cotton robe and went back to her desk, grabbing a pot of coffee on the way. The terrace door was open, and the sun poured through her apartment. It was a gorgeous day. She set the coffee down next to the almond croissant she had set out. She frowned at the pot and then grabbed a mimosa instead.
On her desk was a thick, manila folder. She looked down, studied it for a minute, and then opened it, deciding to look through it one more time. The stack of documents spread out when she opened the folder, and she began to flip through them. The first pages were photographs of a huge apartment in a high-rise on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. There were shots of the place as a whole and then also photos of each individual room. The penthouse might have been a museum, decorated with ornate, carved wooden furniture, and a myriad of rare sculptures and paintings. The mark was also a collector. And he had impeccable taste.
The next pages were blueprints of the same building. They showed everything the photographs showed and then some; all the secret rooms and corridors that weren’t readily visible. Vanessa flipped to the next pages that contained pictures of a necklace.
She paused here.
It was a stunning piece. She got goosebumps every time she looked at it, even though she’d studied the photographs countless times. It was a bold, chunky necklace, glittering w
ith green diamond as large as river rocks. The thing must have weighed five pounds, she thought. It was an antique, the only one of it’s kind in the whole world. It had belonged to some 17th-century French royalty. And it was utterly priceless.
One of her employer’s clients had been interested in the piece for a very long time and was willing to pay top dollar for its acquisition. Vanessa wasn’t too sure how exactly it got into the hands of this particular mark, but once the world knew he had it, he became instantly famous. This would be a big score for her. A huge score.
She went giddy when employer told her that he had chosen her for the job. She knew she needed to pull this one off and do it well. There would be a massive cut for her if she did. And more work where this came from. It wouldn’t be an easy job, however. This was a high-rise penthouse in the middle of a big party. There’d be lots of people around. There’d be no other way for her to get in and no other reason for her to be in the building.
The necklace was believed to be hidden in the library, seemingly because no one would look there for it. It was said to be in a safe behind one of the large, floor-to-ceiling barrister bookcases.
Clever.
All Vanessa had to do was locate the safe, crack it, and then retrieve the necklace. Then she would quickly exit the party and deliver it to her employer. She inspected the blueprints of the apartment and building, wondering if there was a more indirect way of accessing the room. There didn't seem to be any. There would be no trickery involved in getting in. She had an invitation to the party. She could go right through the front door.
And it shouldn’t be difficult for her to disappear for awhile. There would be a lot of people there, all vying for the host’s attention. She could be in and out without anyone ever noticing. She even had a date for a cover, her partner Henry. He’d be there to people from talking to her for too long. At some point, she’d excuse herself and go to the ladies room, get the necklace and make an exit.
She would have to work quickly, faster than she ever had. You can do this; she repeated to herself. She flipped to the next page. There he was. Aiden English. Vanessa stared at the photo for a minute, and then she smiled for the first time that day.
He was handsome. No, he was beyond handsome. He was breathtaking. Disarmingly gorgeous. His head was a mass of dark curls. His piercing blue eyes peeked out from under long, dark lashes. His smile was dotted with dimples. He looked young. A little too young to be a self-made billionaire in Vanessa’s opinion. Aiden was a transplant. He grew up in Middle America somewhere and was new to New York.
Vanessa smirked. Aiden was about to find out just how inhospitable the Rotten Apple could be at times. She uncrossed her legs and crossed them again. Then she chided herself for getting aroused. Focus on the job, she said to herself. Before you need to get back into the shower.
*****
Aiden looked at the list in front of him for the umpteenth time. It didn’t seem to be getting any shorter, despite having checked quite a few things off. These parties started out as an accident really. One night he held an impromptu gathering for his close friends. They had such a good time they made him promise to do it again. And he did.
The next time. His friends brought friends. And their friends brought friends. And now his parties were the thing of legends. Easily the hottest ticket in the city
He sighed. When would it end? He was growing weary of these parties. Still, he went over things in his head one last time.
The liquor delivery had come. The hired bartenders, dressed identically as he had specified, had arrived and were beginning to set up. Security was in place. They had the guest list and were prepared to turn away the President of the United States himself if his name wasn’t on it. The catering order was also on its way. Things were falling into place and well before the deadlines.
So why do I feel nervous?
He still hadn’t figured out what to wear. He’d wear a suit, of course, but which? This is why you need a woman in your life, his mother’s voice echoed in his head. Maybe his mother was right. If he did have someone right now, she could help him with these arrangements, help him pick out something to wear. And he wouldn’t have to pay her afterward.
He frowned. Who knew? Maybe he’d meet someone tonight. His friends were always trying to hook him up with some woman or other. He dated quite a bit actually. And he bedded even more than that. But he had yet to find a woman worth partnering with. He needed more than just pretty face and a pair of legs that would spread for him whenever he wanted. He wanted a woman with personality, with intelligence. A little mystery. A hint of danger.
His mother always said he expected too much. “Just find a nice enough girl and settle down already,” she would say. Oh well. He would remain a bachelor forever before he settled. Finally, Aiden picked out a pale gray, three-piece number. “Gray brings out your eyes,” his mother would always say. He handed the suit to his assistant to have pressed and readied. Then he picked out a tie and some cufflinks. With the preparations done, all he Aiden had to do was sit back and wait for the guests to arrive.
*****
Vanessa looked in the mirror one more time. She turned to inspect herself from all angles. She had to make sure she looked the part she was going to play tonight. She smoothed her sleek, black cocktail dress and secured her dark, wavy hair in a bun high atop her head. Then she blotted her cherry red lipstick and spritzed on some perfume. Chanel No 5. Just then, her cell phone rang. She picked it up and looked at the screen. It was her employer.
“Yeah,” she said.
“Are you clear on your instructions for tonight?”
“Yes,” he said with a sigh. It came out a little louder than she had planned and she could hear her employer’s annoyance over the phone.
“Repeat them to me,” he said curtly.
“I enter building on Henry’s arm. I am to let him hand over the invitations. My name is Camille Sumpter and his name is Charles. He’s my husband, and we’re traveling from France. We’ll mingle for a reasonable amount of time and then I’ll excuse myself to go powder my nose. That’s when I give the guard the slip and get into the library. I search for the safe, crack it, and retrieve the necklace. Then I’ll pretend to have fallen ill and we'll make a hasty exit.”
“Is that it?”
“Shall I send the host a fruit basket with my apologies?”
“Don’t be a smart-ass.”
Too late for that.
“If anything goes wrong, if anything seems amiss, you are to abort the mission. Is that understood?”
“But then you don’t get your precious necklace.”
“And you’ll be out of a job. So I strongly suggest you make sure nothing goes wrong.”
“It won’t.”
“Don’t be unfriendly, but don’t be too memorable either.”
Vanessa rolled her eyes. She couldn’t understand why she had to go through this drill again when she’d done it countless times. She was a pro. Even if she was the only one, who realized it.
What did she have to do to make this guy understand that?
She hoped when she finished this job; things would be different. She hoped to get a little more respect in the organization. Dismissing the thought for now, she grabbed her clutch and applied another layer of lipstick.
A car honked its horn outside her bedroom window. Vanessa smiled at herself in the mirror. It’s showtime.
*****
Vanessa hopped into the car next to Henry.
He smiled over at her. “Feeling good about this?”
“I’m always feeling good,” she replied?
Why did everyone doubt her?
They enjoy the rest of the drive in silence. It wasn’t too long before they pulled up in front of the high-rise. Henry gave the car to the valet, and Vanessa took tow steps toward the place. She had to crane her neck to see the very top, and even then she couldn’t be sure.
It was a long way down. They stepped inside and got onto the elevator. A
fumigates later, the arched the penthouse floor.
“Ready?” Henry looked at her, smiled, and held his arm out.
“Ready.” Vanessa hooked her arm through his, and they walked ahead to where a small crowd had gathered.
They waited patiently as the group in front of them was ushered inside and then they stepped to the front.
Vanessa smiled at the large man at the door. He didn’t return her smile. “Invitations?”
Henry pulled the invitations from his breast pocket and handed them to the man.